South Africa - Transport services (% of commercial service imports)

The value for Transport services (% of commercial service imports) in South Africa was 35.33 as of 2020. As the graph below shows, over the past 60 years this indicator reached a maximum value of 49.14 in 1960 and a minimum value of 31.92 in 1978.

Definition: Transport services (% of commercial service imports) covers all transport services (sea, air, land, internal waterway, space, and pipeline) performed by residents of one economy for those of another and involving the carriage of passengers, movement of goods (freight), rental of carriers with crew, and related support and auxiliary services. Excluded are freight insurance, which is included in insurance services; goods procured in ports by nonresident carriers and repairs of transport equipment, which are included in goods; repairs of railway facilities, harbors, and airfield facilities, which are included in construction services; and rental of carriers without crew, which is included in other services.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files.

See also:

Year Value
1960 49.14
1961 46.15
1962 43.32
1963 45.38
1964 47.39
1965 47.96
1966 43.88
1967 43.24
1968 41.65
1969 43.41
1970 45.28
1971 44.97
1972 39.71
1973 42.18
1974 48.59
1975 42.10
1976 38.96
1977 32.42
1978 31.92
1979 35.94
1980 39.66
1981 45.03
1982 42.72
1983 37.61
1984 40.48
1985 44.52
1986 42.91
1987 40.24
1988 41.99
1989 45.02
1990 41.27
1991 44.19
1992 40.42
1993 37.31
1994 40.78
1995 40.09
1996 42.89
1997 42.89
1998 42.20
1999 42.68
2000 43.05
2001 41.49
2002 42.77
2003 40.53
2004 43.84
2005 44.93
2006 48.52
2007 48.03
2008 46.45
2009 40.18
2010 37.92
2011 41.23
2012 43.96
2013 43.63
2014 44.04
2015 40.89
2016 36.86
2017 37.62
2018 39.19
2019 38.70
2020 35.33

Development Relevance: Trade in services differs from trade in goods because services are produced and consumed at the same time. Thus services to a traveler may be consumed in the producing country (for example, use of a hotel room) but are classified as imports of the traveler's country. In other cases services may be supplied from a remote location; for example, insurance services may be supplied from one location and consumed in another.

Limitations and Exceptions: Balance of payments statistics, the main source of information on international trade in services, have many weaknesses. Disaggregation of important components may be limited and varies considerably across countries. There are inconsistencies in the methods used to report items. And the recording of major flows as net items is common (for example, insurance transactions are often recorded as premiums less claims). These factors contribute to a downward bias in the value of the service trade reported in the balance of payments. Efforts are being made to improve the coverage, quality, and consistency of these data. Eurostat and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, for example, are working together to improve the collection of statistics on trade in services in member countries. Still, difficulties in capturing all the dimensions of international trade in services mean that the record is likely to remain incomplete. Cross-border intrafirm service transactions, which are usually not captured in the balance of payments, have increased in recent years. An example is transnational corporations' use of mainframe computers around the clock for data processing, exploiting time zone differences between their home country and the host countries of their affiliates. Another important dimension of service trade not captured by conventional balance of payments statistics is establishment trade - sales in the host country by foreign affiliates. By contrast, cross-border intrafirm transactions in merchandise may be reported as exports or imports in the balance of payments.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: The balance of payments (BoP) is a double-entry accounting system that shows all flows of goods and services into and out of an economy; all transfers that are the counterpart of real resources or financial claims provided to or by the rest of the world without a quid pro quo, such as donations and grants; and all changes in residents' claims on and liabilities to nonresidents that arise from economic transactions. All transactions are recorded twice - once as a credit and once as a debit. In principle the net balance should be zero, but in practice the accounts often do not balance, requiring inclusion of a balancing item, net errors and omissions. The concepts and definitions underlying the data are based on the sixth edition of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6). Balance of payments data for 2005 onward will be presented in accord with the BPM6. The historical BPM5 data series will end with data for 2008, which can be accessed through the World Development Indicators archives. The complete balance of payments methodology can be accessed through the International Monetary Fund website (www.imf.org/external/np/sta/bop/bop.htm).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Private Sector & Trade Indicators

Sub-Topic: Imports